The Moodle Attendance activity can be used to assess student engagement in online Forum discussions, as well as attendance in face-to-face classes. Doing so gives students an accurate assessment of their progress in the course and provides instructors with a comprehensive record of their students' engagement throughout the semester.

Create an Attendance activity (and generate sessions) according to the directions in "How to Use Moodle Attendance." [NOTE: you may want to rename the activity "Forum Participation."]

When you are creating sessions (see How to Use Moodle Attendance), in the "Time" category, set both times ("from/to") to the deadline for the final posts to the forum. In "Description," type "Forum Post."

To set the scale for assessing students' participation in both the f2f sessions and online forums, 0pen the activity and click on the tab marked "Settings."

The default settings are P (Present), L (Late), E (Excused), and A (Absent) with a 0-2 scale. However, these variables can be edited to fit an instructor's preferred ratings. Below is an example of a system that some instructors are using. [NOTE: an absence receives a failing grade of 50 rather than a 0.]

To record attendance and participation, click on the green button next to the pertinent session. [NOTE: you can change the description of the session from the default "Regular class session." For this hybrid course, the instructor is recording students' participation in the online Forum discussion (2nd session below) along with face-to-face class sessions.]

Click on the appropriate radio button to assess each students' engagement in the class. [NOTE: instructors may also provide additional feedback in the "Remarks" window to the right.]

When you have assessed all of the students, click "Save attendance." The grades are recorded in the gradebook, so students get immediate feedback on their participation.